Millburn<1>
Friday July 10
My Dear Charles
I wrote several days ago to Mr Mansel Talbot <2> to ask him whether he was still in Town, but I have had no answer, which makes me think it very probable that he and his family have left Town. Under these circumstances I think that if you are amusing yourself well in the Lake district, it would be better not to come to London - The fact is that I had miscalculated the duration of the London Season, <3> which I thought would last 2 or 3 weeks longer, because I saw such flaming accounts in the Newspapers of balls & entertainments - But I believe all is now almost over, & Parliament about to adjourn. I propose to go to Town myself on Monday to see my sister Caroline <4> & transact some business but I mean only to stay 2 days - unless you wish to join me there - If you do, please to write to your mother <5> to forward your portmanteau which might be addressed to me at the Athenæum. <6> But I think on the whole "it would not pay" to go to London so late - We will think of it earlier next Season.
I am afraid you may have sufferred from the heat. Here it has been very hot, and with a closer atmosphere than I ever felt before in Scotland, where the air is usually so elastic.
Adieu - your affte
Father
Envelope:
Charles H. Talbot EsqPost office
Keswick
Cumberland
Notes:
1. Millburn Tower, Gogar, just west of Edinburgh; the Talbot family made it their northern home from June 1861 to November 1863. It is particularly important because WHFT conducted many of his photoglyphic engraving experiments there. The house had a rich history. Built for Sir Robert Liston (1742-1836), an 1805 design by Benjamin Latrobe for a round building was contemplated but in 1806 a small house was built to the design of William Atkinson (1773-1839), best known for Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford. The distinctive Gothic exterior was raised in 1815 and an additional extension built in 1821. Liston had been ambassador to the United States and maintained a warm Anglo-American relationship in the years 1796-1800. His wife, the botanist Henrietta Liston, née Marchant (1751-1828) designed a lavish American garden, sadly largely gone by the time the Talbots rented the house .
2. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (1803-1890), immensely wealthy landowner, mathematician & politician; WHFT's Welsh cousin.
3. A season of court balls, private balls, concerts, dances, parties and sporting events held during the sitting of Parliament, usually from Easter to late summer.
4. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808-1881); WHFT's half-sister.
5. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (1811-1880), WHFT's wife.
6. Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, London: WHFT's club; a gentleman's club composed primarily of artists and scientists.